(Newser)
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William Daley has terms like "longtime Democratic operative," "former Clinton secretary of commerce" and "Chicago political scion" thrown about him, but the New York Timestakes a closer look at President Obama's new right-hand guy. He's “a bare-knuckles administrator ... someone who not only makes the trains run on time, he makes them run ahead of time,” says a veteran of the foundering Gore campaign Daley was called in to resuscitate. “He quickly brought order to the house. He held people accountable.”

Daley's the guy who delivered NAFTA, securing some 100 Democratic votes against steep odds in a show of political savvy remarkable for someone who's never held elective office (even though he's known as "the brains" of the Daley political machine). Insiders tell the Times that he's more pragmatist than idealogue, but Politico makes the case that Daley's appointment has finally broken liberals' hearts and illusions that Obama was a left-winger masquerading as a centrist.

"He became associated with Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, where he was first vice chairman (1989–1990) and then president and chief operating officer (1990-1993). Daley returned to the practice of law, as a partner with the firm Mayer Brown (then Mayer, Brown & Platt) from 1993 to 1997, where he served on the board of Fannie Mae. In December 2001, he was appointed President of SBC Communications Inc. to help reform the company's image. In May 2004, Daley was made Midwest Chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank One Corp. to oversee post-merger operations from Chicago. Daley currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Boeing, Merck & Co., Boston Properties, Inc., and Loyola University Chicago. He is also a trustee of Northwestern University and sits on the Council on Foreign Relations." Way to put any of that in the story, Newser. Deleting my account now.